Palm Sunday Peace March 2010

Build not Bomb

palm-sunday-poster (poster pdf - pls distribute)

Plus there’s a Vigil against the war on Afghanistan
Tue 16 March, 4-6pm, Defence Plaza, 661 Bourke St, Melbourne.

UpperRoom - MPH RoadTrip

Welcome Back!

The upper room project meets the first Monday of each month (6:-8:30pm) to engage with spirituality and justice as struggled with and fought for by the Prophets and Jesus. We meet upstairs in the Shine Café/Bar (74 Kingsway Glen Waverley) with gallery space, discussion corners, opportunity for practical response and pondering space.

We hope the upper room will be

Space to rest/relax with your tribe

Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion

Connect with heartbeats for living

There will be food, wine and friends plus

Please bring your friends - all are welcome

This month Upper Room -   We will have all the info for getting involved with the MAKEpovertyHISTORY road trip in May. Check their website here and our info here.

Basically it is 1000 16-26 yr olds traveling from the capital cities through marginal seats cause trouble and raising issues of poverty - converging in Canberra for a sum it with speakers, workshop bands etc.  UCA is partnerin with our halls, cooks, agencies and trouble making ways

Get on board.

Oh and naturally we need ideas for the UpperRoom for the rest of the year and if you want to chat about the young adult hub … please do

Facebook event if your on it

A basic night goes a little something like this..

morepraxis hub is a UCA initiative that seeks to encourage, coach and engage young adults to be active locally and deeper spiritually.

The group will meet weekly on a Monday. The nights will involve elements and approaches of narrative and peer reflection groups, discussion, coaching, alt worship and bible study.  For a while I have had an idea kicking around in my head that links social work theory, mystic wondering and bible reflection. This seems like a perfect opportunity to get it out of my head and let peeps play with it.

Plus, we will join with the Upper Room Project on the first Monday of the month a Shine Bar as a more social night.
and
Once a term we will have a night that focused on a topic or issue (chosen by the group) as arty, open mic, spoken word, improve styled creative something (I trust that is clear)  :)

So a Basic night (goes a little something like this…)

Alt Worship. Reflective time in the space.

Welcome gathering time

Shared Journey 1 - Members chatting about how their life and spirituality is going.

Input - topics by request or a gospel chapter to ponder (starting with Mark)

Shared Journey 2 - Members chatting about their projects, ministries, current plans etc.

Reflect/Worship - Song prayer end

Food & Chat

Sound good?

morepraxis eastside

Hi peeps I am here to recruit you.

The St Stephen’s Community Living Centre (SSCLC) has granted us (by us I mean you and me) a year to see what a morepraxis young adult hub may look like, get up to and become.

SSCLC is where Ringwood East UC  congregation used to meet before joining up with Ringwood UC.  We have the opportunity to help develope with SSCLC the church end of the building to be a more arty and spirituality type of space for us and the community. Very cool.

I would like to begin this thrilling adventure with a weekly Young Adult gathering and running an easter week  art installation.

What will we do? Well naturally the weekly group would be open to be  shaped by the needs of the group.  However as base I am keen to host this group with time spent on growing personal discipleship/spirituality, time to focus on projects that members have back in their own congregations, action groups etc and some input that help both of these. I hope we will be YAs who are looking for a place to think, chat, question and grow (and don’t get it in other places) and YAs who are busy leading groups but need something for themselves. Basically I hope we strengthen each other to do new and better things back in our existing world but with a new place to find support and whinge.

In my official chats with SSLC it goes a little something like this…

morepraxis hub “seeks to encourage, coach and engage young adults to be active locally and deeper spiritually”.

Hub = a network of Young Adults in the region meeting to grow in discipleship and support each other. Sharing their faith journey and supporting helping each other with their ministry and projects

Locally = members in congregations on the eastside, leaders of youth groups, action groups and communities where they currently participate

Coaching = host/key leader and peers meeting to bounce ideas off and help think through missional, creative and radical initiatives.

The goals of the hub would be

• Firstly to create a place for people to grow in discipleship while not removing people from their local contexts & communities.
• Secondly, to create a strong network of Young Adults that can help our UCA start and sustain new endeavors.
• Thirdly, to simply create a space for young adults to explore, question and grow in their spirituality.

So if you are a keen to join the organising group or simply interstetd in joingning the group.  Contact me. age@morepraxis.org.au

Currently the organising group has Tess, Jen, Rod and myself… the group itself has at least one other member not on the team… so you see we do need you to join.

(This will be too far away from many but it is a start and I am happy to see and help other morepraxis hubs pop up westside, southside, broadside, farside wherever… )

So What do you think?

Peace Christmas Carol Service

~ With 30 wars currently going on around the globe,

Advent.  A time when we wait upon the coming of the Prince of Peace whose life and teachings save us from the violence that exists within ourselves.

We invite you to wait this year and carol with us at Lockheed Martin (world’s number 1. weapons manufactor) here in Dandenong.

Tuesday 15th Dec

4:30-6pm

@ 208 Princess Hwy, Dandenong

Please bring Christmas decorations and signs for peace

~ With 30 wars currently going on around the globe,

Advent.  A time when we wait upon the coming of the Prince of Peace whose life and teachings save us from the violence that exists within ourselves.

We invite you to wait this year and carol with us at Lockheed Martin (world’s number 1. weapons manufactor) here in Dandenong.

Tuesday 15th Dec

4:30-6pm

@ 208 Princess Hwy, Dandenong

Please bring Christmas decorations and signs for peace

UpperRoom - Christmas

Christmas, Consumption, Sustainable bits and bobs

The upper room project meets the first Monday of each month (6:-8:30pm) to engage with spirituality and justice as struggled with and fought for by the Prophets and Jesus. We meet upstairs in the Shine Café/Bar (74 Kingsway Glen Waverley) with gallery space, discussion corners, opportunity for practical response and pondering space.

We hope the upper room will be

Space to rest/relax with your tribe

Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion

Connect with heartbeats for living

There will be food, wine and friends plus

Please bring your friends - all are welcome

This month Upper Room -   We have Jonathan Cornford from Mana Gum coming to share some environment/sustainable living ideas. Also, we will have the Everything in Common and Tear gift catalogues, environmental christmas info idea, maybe some share appeal gift tags for asylum seekers you know the usual. (Plus, There could be a buy nothing christmas action to conspire with too.)

Facebook event if your on it

Cya All there.

UpperRoom - Show and Tell

The upper room project meets the first Monday of each month (6:-8:30pm) to engage with spirituality and justice as struggled with and fought for by the Prophets and Jesus. We meet upstairs in the Shine Café/Bar (74 Kingsway Glen Waverley) with gallery space, discussion corners, opportunity for practical response and pondering space.

We hope the upper room will be

Space to rest/relax with your tribe

Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion

Connect with heartbeats for living

There will be food, wine and friends plus

Please bring your friends - all are welcome

This month Upper Room -  I am keen to hear about all the things you guys have been doing, attending campaigning for/against etc. So “Show and  Tell” guided me asking you about things I know you did (last summer).

You may remember I said we had Jonathan this month…. Jono who was coming to do some environment/sustainable living stuff has double booked and will now be coming to the Dec upperroom giving us this chance to chat about the years adventures. I think it will be fun and a good break for those in exam mode.

Facebook event if your on it

Cya All there.

UpperRoom Anti-Poverty

 

 

 

 

The upper room project meets the first Monday of each month (6:-8:30pm) to engage with spirituality and justice as struggled with and fought for by the Prophets and Jesus. We meet upstairs in the Shine Café/Bar (74 Kingsway Glen Waverley) with gallery space, discussion corners, opportunity for practical response and pondering space.

We hope the upper room will be

Space to rest/relax with your tribe

Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion

Connect with heartbeats for living

There will be food, wine and friends plus

Please bring your friends - all are welcome

This month Upper Room will highlights and reflect ideas behind equality and access for humanity. Specifically looking at the Poverty and Justice Bible.  Anti Poverty Week 11-17^th Oct. http://morepraxis.org.au/anti-poverty-week/

 

Facebook event if your on it

Cya All there.

A Social Justice Grace?

Here is the prayer we will be using before each food time at morepraxis gathering this weekend.

Some have food,
Some have none,
God bless the revolution!

It came from this site while I was looking for an ancient monastic sort of social justice grace thingy. I wrote one myself but thought the ancient link would be fun.

Here was my one “Jesus, As we eat we remember those who will not and covenant to be part of a solution. Grant all who are fed a hunger for justice and you. Amen.”

See the top one looked good, covered the connection between us and food justice and it was shorter to the point.

However, it came with this intro “an old Boston Brahim prayer”. Now while sounding authoritative and like a historic spiritual group it is weird. Brahim are the priestly class in Hindu. Plus, the references I have seen around about ‘Boston Brahim’ are of upper class privilege not social justice. It is basically like saying here is “an old chardonnay socialist” prayer.  

So while it is a bit weird it is a good grace thingy for our gathering of chardonnay socialists, latte sipping ordinary radicals

(I thought of Mike’s Billy Bragg shirt while posting)

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